Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security

NORAD

█ CARYN E. NEUMANN

The North American Air Defense Agreement, signed on May 12, 1958 by the
United States and Canada, created a continental air defense warning and
surveillance system in response to Cold War fears of an airborne attack by
the Soviet Union. The resulting North American Air/Aerospace Defense
Command (NORAD) has since shifted strategies from guarding against
long-range bombers to warning of ballistic missile attacks and maintaining
space surveillance. While both North American countries provide
considerable support for NORAD, the United States, as the dominant
partner, makes major policy and leadership decisions.

During the 1950s, the United States aimed to deter any attacks by the
Soviet Union on North American soil by threatening massive retaliation.
The main Soviet menace in this era came in the form of long-range bombers
that would likely fly over Canadian territory to reach American targets.
Because any Soviet attack upon the U.S. would involve Canada, it was
logical for the U.S. to form an official military alliance with its
neighbor to the north. NORAD formalized a cooperative air defense
agreement that had existed between the Royal Canadian Air Force and the
U.S. Air Force (USAF). It brought the two nations together to develop
continental air defense plans; to maintain and operate the land-based
radar and communications systems that would warn of an impending attack;
and, in the event of an attack, to employ air defense forces to direct a
retaliatory strike away from heavily populated areas. In light of the
population density of the U.S., the agreement meant that Canada consented
to direct any conflict towards its sparsely peopled north.

Although NORAD is a joint military command, Canada is clearly the
subordinate partner. The agreement provides for an American
Commander-in-Chief (CINCNORAD) and a Canadian Deputy Commander
headquartered in the U.S., at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs,
Colorado. Military and civilian personnel from both countries are assigned
to all NORAD elements, but the pilots assigned to intercept threats
generally come from the ranks of the USAF. North America is divided into

Large computer screens display maps of the globe inside the main
command center for the North American Air/Aerospace Defense Command
(NORAD) in Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, 1997.

AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS

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The "steel city" defense complex of the North American
Air/Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, shown in 1997, was carved out of
Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado in the early 1960s. Fifteen steel
buildings inside the mountain stand on rows of huge steel springs,
designed to negate the earthquake effect of a nuclear blast.

AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS

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three regions per the NORAD agreement: Alaska, Canada, and the continental
U.S., and each of these regions receives information from a surveillance
network of ground-based radars augmented by airborne radars, such as those
carried by spy planes like the SR-71 and satellites. Federal Air
Administration (U.S.) and Transport Canada radars also feed into the
network.

In the 1960s, the nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile and
the race for dominance in space began to dominate defense concerns and the
emphasis of NORAD was adjusted to respond to these new concerns. The 1966
renewal of the NORAD agreement gave the command responsibility for North
American aerospace attack warning and control. Aerospace warning involves
the monitoring of man-made objects in space as well as the detection,
assessment, and warning of any threat against North America whether by
aircraft, missiles, or man-made space vehicles. Aerospace control includes
the duties of providing surveillance and control of Canadian and American
airspace. In 1974, NORAD began providing surveillance, warning, and
assessment services to command authorities stationed worldwide to assist
in deterring attacks upon North American soil.

When the Cold War came to a close in 1989, NORAD struggled to find a role
in the absence of an organized military threat. It joined the American War
on Drugs in 1989 when Congress requested that the USAF interdict
smugglers. Military authorities gave the anti-smuggling duties to NORAD
because of its intelligence systems. NORAD received official
responsibility for fighting drug trafficking in 1991and joined the war
against terrorism in 1996 when it received a mandate to identify and
eliminate a limited missile attack, such as a terrorist launch, an
accidental launch, or a launch by a Third World nation.

Despite these activities, NORAD activity began to wind down in the
mid-1990s. The Over-the-Horizon Backscatter (OTH-B) radars in the U.S.
were shut down. The North Warning System was operating at about 50% of its
capacity and needed about three months to be brought back to full
activation. The thirty interceptor bases were
reduced to thirteen, with pilots now on a one-hour recall instead of a
five-minute callback. A Cold War-era concept, NORAD served its purpose and
now its mission in the twenty-first century remains uncertain.